2005 FIA Formula One World Championship Round 6: Monaco Grand Prix
21
May: Raikkonen takes provisional pole for dominant Michelin
Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin) has
secured provisional pole position for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. The Finn, who scored his first victory of the season in Spain
a fortnight ago, lapped in 1m 13.644s – the fastest lap of the weekend so far – to pip world championship leader Fernando Alonso
(Renault/Michelin) by 0.481s. Several of Michelin’s partner teams have shown they have the potential to run at the front. Mark
Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team) completed a Bibendum 1-2-3 ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault, fourth), Juan Pablo Montoya (Team
McLaren Mercedes, fifth), Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, sixth), Jarno Trulli (Toyota, seventh), David Coulthard (Red Bull
Racing, eighth) and Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas, ninth).
Formula One is poised to adopt a revised qualifying
format for next weekend’s Grand Prix of Europe at the Nürburgring. Teams have agreed in principle to drop Sunday’s second
qualifying session and finalise the grid with a single run on Saturdays. The starting order will be determined by the previous race
result, with the winner starting last.
Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault/Michelin) set quickest time in this morning’s final
free practice sessions. The Italian lapped in 1m 13.988s – 0.059s faster than team-mate Fernando Alonso.
The final free
practice session was stopped two minutes early after a pile-up on the approach to the left-hander at Massenet. Jacques Villeneuve
(Sauber) clipped the back of David Coulthard’s Red Bull and sent the Scot careering into Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota, which spun
through 180 degrees. Although Villeneuve was able to continue, the other two cars were left stranded in a dangerous position on the
circuit and the race director had little option but to show the red flag.
An hour after qualifying ended, the FIA stewards
announced that McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya will have both his qualifying times deleted. The Colombian has been blamed for
slowing unnecessarily on a quick part of the track during the final free practice session, thus provoking the aforementioned
multiple pile-up involving Schumacher, Coulthard and Villeneuve.
Michelin’s
day Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director “We have three different Michelin chassis in the top three positions
– but there’s an extra twist this time because they are all running on slightly different types of tyre. For Monaco we offered
our partners two ‘prime’ compounds and one ‘option’. Today’s result underlines that all three are working exceptionally
well – and that is a source of immense satisfaction.” “Kimi Räikkönen’s time today was a few tenths faster than last
season’s Michelin pole lap, set by Jarno Trulli’s Renault with a significant amount of fuel on board. If you compare like with
like, by making the necessary weight adjustments, Kimi’s time would be the slower of the two – but it was still an extraordinary
lap that highlights how well Michelin has responded to the task of making harder-compound F1 tyres that provide speed as well as
aimed to race distance, compare to a third of the race distance last year.”
Martin Whitmarsh, CEO Formula One, Team
McLaren Mercedes “Kimi Räikkönen has only secured provisional pole so far – but his lap reflects a very impressive effort
by the whole team. I thought the last three runners did a fantastic job on a circuit that was very dirty in parts, following Ralf
Schumacher’s accident. Fernando Alonso was neat and tidy – but Kimi was superb.” “Michelin has provided us with some
fantastic tyres and they look as though they will be very good in the race, too. We look forward to maintaining this kind of form
tomorrow
